Laugh Until It Stops Hurting
by DCFanatic4life
Summary: Dolph Ziggler had the weekend off, which meant a whole weekend trying not to think of AJ Lee...AJ/Dolph...*Complete*
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the real people in this story. The characters belong to the WWE, and the real people own themselves. This is not going to be that bad, so unless you have an aversion to the occasional curse word, you're fine.**

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A/N: Carly keeps giving me Dolph/AJ ideas, and I keep writing them. That's what happened here. So this is pretty self-explanatory when you read it and if you follow Dolph on Twitter, which, if you aren't, what are you waiting for?! Anyways, this is part one of a two-shot, AND it's in first person POV, so who knows if I even did alright. So, in that case, you might as well leave me a review. ;) And if you want to be brutal, I encourage that. Enjoy! :)

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It's not the same without her there.

And that thought is weird in and of itself.

She's not my girlfriend, she's not my best friend, she's essentially just a girl that I work with, except she's not. She's more, so much more, and that thought frightens me because this is my job, my job and I'm just projecting, right? It's just because we work so closely together, that I have to kiss her, that I know what it's like when I take her breath away with my mouth, know how warm and wet the inside of her mouth is, how her fingers feel grazing across my flushed, bare skin after a match. It's just me thinking there was something more.

It's all just pretend.

I guess that's what I tell myself when I miss her. We aren't together, and I shouldn't miss her, and why would I miss her when I see her all the time? At most, we spend three, maybe four, days apart during the week, so I see her for the rest of the week, and that's a lot of time. It's more than some couples get to see each other, not that we're a couple, it's just an example, whatevs. And so what if we spend time outside the ring together, so what if that's where my troubles kind of start? We eat together, but we have to, we have things to discuss. And yeah, sometimes we travel together, but that's out of convenience or when she needs a ride. It's not like she doesn't travel with Kaitlyn a lot. These things didn't mean anything, so why would missing her mean anything. We're just coworkers.

I'm just her coworker that needs to get my mind off her right now before other, deeper thoughts start to invade my mind. I have the weekend off, a precursor to WrestleMania week, which is going to be hectic and long, and fun too, so I'm grateful I can just take this weekend for myself. Well, I should be taking it for myself, but I can't stop thinking about what AJ might be doing. We've spent pretty much every weekend together since December, so it's only natural to wonder how she's spending these rare days off.

I went to her place once when we were doing an NXT show. She likes to go to NXT and brush up her skills, especially when she wasn't wrestling those first couple months we were together. She's actually pretty amazing in the ring, and I find myself watching her in awe sometimes. It's easy to forget sometimes that there are actually women wrestlers in this company. Nothing against the models who have broken their way in, but they don't have that quality, that drive that AJ has, that makes her such a petite fireball.

Her apartment was just like I thought it would be, eccentric, but still welcoming. We were still kind of awkward towards one another, but she was insistent that I come over for the day, hang out there, have a place that wasn't a hotel room for once. I didn't have the heart to remind her that my brother lived in the area too so I was crashing with him. She invited me to her place, and even if it was a little awkward, it was really nice of her.

Nowadays though, I'd probably just walk right in, flop down on her couch, and make myself right at home. That's what she did when the Royal Rumble was in Phoenix. I insisted that she stay at my house, and though she was reluctant at first, she gave in. Zack stayed too, so I think that put her at ease. She looked good in my house, and there are those damn thoughts again. Looks good in my house? What does that even mean? I'm starting to picture things not as they are, and maybe as I want them, but who has time for thinking that? I'm supposed to be recharging my batteries.

I decide that Saturday is just going to be my lazy day. I'm going to go around, do stuff, maybe do nothing, who knew, but when I wake up, I'm just going to see where the day takes me and not worry about anything to do with AJ. She's just a friend, just a really cute friend who I really like to spend my time with, but no, there she is again, so I push her out of my brain. I get up, get dressed in my favorite t-shirt and pair of shorts, slip on my flip-flops and walk downstairs for a protein shake and some breakfast. Actually, no, I'm going to splurge, so I decide that today is as good as any to grab some breakfast.

I go to my favorite breakfast place in the state of Arizona, and sit myself down right outside. It's a beautiful day, and I'm going to take advantage of it. I'm not going to let my mind be invaded by short, dark-haired fake girlfriends. I at least manage to get through breakfast without thinking about her too often. I don't check my Twitter, which only leads me straight into my mentions where 75% of them include her, and instead I just sit back and watch the people of Scottsdale walk around.

It isn't until I'm walking down the sidewalk and see an animal adoption event going on that AJ rams right back into my mind full force. She loves animals, like I do, and this is the kind of thing she would love. I casually walk over, taking in all the animals, wishing I could adopt them all. I walk over to one pen, leaning over and petting one of the dogs. He immediately takes a liking to me, climbing on the cage and giving me those eyes.

"Hey buddy," I tell him, "you're pretty cute."

I'm tempted to adopt him on the spot, but I know that I don't really have the time to care for a dog. AJ would probably make him adopt the animal though. She'd tell me all about the animals that need good homes. It was something she was passionate about, and I remember one night when we were traveling, and she had Nacho in her lap, and told me the story of how she'd come to adopt the little guy. He'd been the one nobody wanted, the one that was slightly too aggressive, the one who was afraid of human contact, but AJ had seen something in him. So she'd taken him home, cared for him, and now he was an affectionate goofball.

That's one of the things I like about AJ though, she sees something in you that I'm not sure everyone else sees. I like to play up that I'm a bad guy, sometimes people believe me too much though, and I'm reminded of the time we were doing our radio interview and I mentioned I was a bad guy in real life. She immediately came to my defense, telling the guys that I wasn't a bad guy at all. She sees people, and she assesses them, and I think that's one of her greatest strengths, to see past the bullshit to the person underneath. It only unnerves me that she may see more in me than I'm even willing to admit to myself.

I take a picture of the little guy, and I'm tempted to send it to AJ, to get her opinion, but I know what her opinion will be. She'll immediately send me a text back telling me to get him now or else she'll fly here and make me do it. Instead, I post the picture on my Twitter account, telling everyone to adopt the little guy or one of his buddies, to help a good cause. That seems safer. It seems less like I really just wanted her to see what I was doing, to recognize that I'm a good guy, and damn it, I'm not admitting that I may have feelings for her, but…

I may have feelings for her.

The text comes a few seconds later. _Dogs? DOGS!?_

I laugh and respond to her, _I was walking back from breakfast, they were having an event._

_Tell me you're getting that dog, Dolph, tell me you are!_

_I wasn't planning on it, sorry :(_

_No, you do not walk away from that cute dog, you hear me, you don't walk away from it!_

_AJ…_

_Don't AJ me, if you do not show up to Raw on Monday without that dog in tow, I'm telling management to break us up!_

_So demanding…_

_Those are the conditions, buddy!_

That dog had a new owner the second she texted me. "Excuse me, sir, are you looking to adopt?" a volunteer comes up to me. I look at the little guy who has obviously taken a liking to me, and he's staring up at me like AJ is here and telling him to give me the most pathetic puppy dog look in the entire world.

I sigh and give in, "Yeah, this guy, I want him."

"Great, his name is Mikey."

I laugh because it reminds me of my time in the Spirit Squad. Maybe it's fate then. "Well, I guess Mikey got himself a new owner."

I end up filling out the paperwork, and getting my dog right then and there. As I'm walking him down the street, he keeps looking up at me, his tongue hanging out of his mouth and he looks for all the world like he's smiling at me, probably so happy and relieved that he has somewhere to go tonight other than a shelter where he's cooped up in a cage or something. I load him up in my car and he immediately jumps into my lap. He's nothing like Nacho, who took forever to warm up to me. When I first started the storyline with AJ, he would look at me distrustfully, even once growling at me, but Mikey loves me immediately.

"You know, I wouldn't have you if it weren't for someone you're going to meet in a couple days, you better thank her," I tell him as he tries to jump on me. "Yeah, yeah, you're welcome for the jailbreak, let's go get you some things."

This dog is going to be the most spoiled dog in the universe. I end up buying him two beds, a water bowl, food bowl, two carrying cases, and enough toys for ten dogs. I bring him home, letting him see the new digs, and he's happy, I can tell, and I kind of, sort of like him. I let him wander around, hoping against hopes that he's house-trained, even though the volunteer said he was, you could never tell.

He ends up settling on the floor in the living room with one of his toys, and I take his picture. _You happy now?_

_You took him home! Our relationship lives!_ I pretend like it doesn't warm me a little that she said we have a relationship. I'm not twelve, and this is not the first girl I've had a crush on. I'll give up that it's a crush, but that's it, and it's only because we work together, it's only natural that I have a crush on the women I work with as closely as I do AJ.

I never had a crush on Vickie.

_Well, I didn't want it to end. _There, that doesn't sound too creepy, but maybe it hints a little bit, just a tiny bit.

_Aww, but really, that's a good thing you did, what's his name?_

_Mikey_

_Cute, but are you going to change it?_

_No, he looks like a Mikey._

_Okay, but he and Nacho will have to be friends, so we'll get them together on Monday and we'll see, okay?_

_Sounds like a plan_

_Welcome to being a dog owner!_

Yes, a crush, just a crush. It's not like I want to send her a million more pictures of the dog, and maybe me with the dog, but I don't because that'd be creepy, and I'm trying not to be creepy. I'm just a guy with a crush, and if I keep telling myself that, I'll believe it. I need a distraction, and I suddenly wish that tonight was the night I could take my mind off her with some Don Rickles, but unfortunately it's not.

But that doesn't mean I can't figure out something else to do. I know there's a show tonight at the Dearing acting studio, and it should be funny. Watching comedy always takes my mind off things, so what have I got to lose. I could have a few drinks, a few laughs, and get a good couple hours without AJ invading my brain like she has since December. I make sure Mikey is set, putting up a barrier (at least I hope it holds) between the kitchen and him. He seems like he won't completely screw up my house, but I tell him I'm trusting him anyways, and head on out.

The comedy is just what I need. Comedy has always been an outlet for me. I like to think I'm a pretty funny guy, I can make people laugh, and so comedy has always been one of my loves. It makes me realize why guys like Jericho leave for stuff like music. It's a passion they have, and while I think I could do both comedy and wrestling easily enough, sometimes I do wonder what it would be like to work the circuit, see if I had enough to make it.

I turn around to get a drink and there's a dark-haired petite woman standing at the bar. I do a double take. The girl is wearing jeans and Converse, and for a moment I wonder if AJ is here to surprise me. I tweeted where I'd be tonight, and maybe she was actually in Phoenix this entire time. I smile, and I start to stand up, but the girl turns around, and she's nothing like AJ at all. My heart doesn't stop pounding for a few seconds, and those few seconds are enough to convince me of another hard truth.

Maybe this isn't just a crush.

"Hey, you mind if I sit here, it's kind of crowded."

I turn my head and there's a woman with a drink. "Oh yeah, sure, sit down," I smile at her as she takes a seat. It's dark in here, but I can still make her out well enough. She looks around my age, long, straight light-brown hair and I can tell her eyes are light with the way the light from the stage is shining off them.

"Thanks, not much room elsewhere and I saw you were alone. Plus, you're the hottest guy in here," she winks at me, and I laugh a little.

"Well, I'm usually the hottest guy everywhere I go," I flirt back with her, but there's something off about it. She's definitely my type, she's got that kind of all-American girl look to her, but sexier if the low-cut top is any indication, and she clearly wants me, but my heart just isn't into it, and I know why, but if I admit why, it'll sink me in deeper.

"Cocky much?"

"Very much," I tell her, flashing her my winning smile, and she grins back at me, taking a delicate sip of her drink before turning her attention back to the stage where the next set it scheduled to begin. She keeps giving me glances though, thinking she's being sly, but she wants me to see them. She wants me to see her, wants me to make more comments, but I just…don't want to.

AJ would have laughed in my face at that comment, but only after she blushes furiously despite the fact we've made out so much, it's become commonplace. She wouldn't have said anything back, just kind of shoved me to get me to quiet down, and I would have laughed. I decide this isn't what I want to be doing, and this girl isn't who I want at my table. "So why are you here alone?"

"Well, nobody to come with me I guess."

"Oh, really?" she turns more towards me, the action on the stage suddenly not worth her time. "I'm friends with one of the troupe members, promised I'd come see her tonight."

"Cool, cool," I nod, "I just like comedy. It fascinates me, the whole thing."

"I've always liked funny guys," she tells me, starting to lay it on thick. "Do you do stand-up?"

"No, I don't, I mean, I'll do a few open mic things, but not really, it's just something fun."

"Yeah, I get that," she says, "so what are you doing after this?" This is it, this is the moment of truth. I could tell her that I'm available and I could take her out, and we could spend the night having fun, and I will probably get laid at the end of it.

"I probably should have said this before, and I'm really sorry, but I'm spoken for," I tell her. "Sorry."

And with that, I get up because sitting there with her feels wrong, and being there somehow feels wrong. So I decide to leave. I end up sitting in my car for half an hour, just thinking about how this is my life now. I could have gotten laid tonight, and I gave it up for a girl who sees me as a friend, and only kisses me because she's paid to do it. I'm pathetic, I'm more than pathetic, whatever that is.

I'm in love with her.

I finally start up my car and drive home, the roads relatively quiet for this early in the night. I'm thankful for it because my thoughts are all on her and not on the roads in front of me. Flirting with that girl felt like a betrayal, which I recognize as ridiculous, but that's still how it felt. The funniest part is I'm not even sure when I fell in love with AJ. Was it in between the kisses, the touches, was it the looks, the hanging out, when was it exactly that she became more? I'm not eager to figure it out because it's probably been around a while, and I'm probably alone in feeling it.

I drag myself inside, and Mikey is right there to greet me, and I'm actually grateful for him. It's a nice feeling coming home to someone. "Hey there, you," I scratch him behind the ears as I sit down on the floor and play with him for a bit. I take him outside and I stand there in the cool night air, thinking about what AJ might be doing right now, if she's still awake, even if she's alone. She's single, but maybe she's not anymore, damn it, now I'm coming up with stupid scenarios.

"Come on, Mikes," I tell him, letting him go inside first. "Now, tonight's the first night, you want to chill in my room for a while. They said you were crate-trained, but you can sleep with me."

At least I'll have some company tonight. He follows me upstairs, bringing a toy with him. I put one of his beds up there, and after he checks it out, he decides it's his second favorite place because he lies down there until get into bed. Then he's hopping up on my bed, or at least trying to. He probably had company at the shelter, other little buddies to sleep with and keep him company. Now it's just him and me, and he probably wants that. I let him on the bed and he takes over the bottom half of it, the stuffed duck I gave him earlier still in his mouth as he starts to chew it.

I watch him for a moment before I grab my phone and text her. _You still up?_

After only a few moments, I get a response, _Of course._

_Do you mind if I call you?_

_Sure, go ahead, what's up?_

I don't answer, but call her instead. I just want to hear my voice, I just want to tell her everything, tell her that I've fallen for her so hard that other women, women I should find attractive, suddenly aren't anymore, that her face is the only one I see anymore because everyone has dimmed around her. "Hey," she answers immediately. "So what's going on?"

"I was just kind of bored tonight," he tells her, "I don't know, feeling alone."

"You can't even handle a weekend by yourself," she laughs, "how's my new best friend doing?"

"He's actually great," I tell her, glancing down at Mikey, who's still occupied with his toy. "He's trained, he's cute, he's chewing on his toy on the end of my bed right now."

"Wow, not even a whole day and he's got you wrapped around his paws," AJ laughs, "I can't wait to meet him, we're going to have the best time, it'll be great."

"So you say," I laugh, "I just, well, I guess I also wanted to say that I miss you." There, at least part of it is out there. Sure, it's not exactly the part where I'm in love with her, but it's a start.

"You _miss_ me?" she sounds incredulous. "Okay, joke's on me, right? I get it, you miss being around your fake girlfriend, very funny. Besides, you see me enough as it is, and we're working on Monday so you can shove your tongue down my throat then…oh wait, no because apparently we were too hot. That's what you get for actually doing your job, getting told you make out too well. Don't feel too relieved that you don't have to kiss me like you did before, got it?"

I feel chastised and she didn't even say anything detrimental. I'm just reminded that at the end of the day, it's a job for her. She laughs it off because she thinks I'm joking. We're coworkers and that's it. It's silly of me to feel this way because we're just coworkers, two people playing the part of boyfriend and girlfriend without any of the reality. I'm glad I'm not in front of her right now because I feel like my face would give me away, but as long as she doesn't see me, I can laugh along and pretend it doesn't hurt.

I'm completely, madly in love with a girl who doesn't feel the same way.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews on this one, I'm glad you guys liked it! Anyways, I know I said two-shot, but it's going to be a three-shot, sorry. I hope you enjoy, and reviews are not mandatory, but they're nice, so think about leaving one. :)

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I watch as Mike hops out of the car, immediately sniffing the ground then peering up at his surroundings. I do the same, minus sniffing the ground. It's another arena in the long list of arenas I'll see this year. There's nothing discerning about it, nothing that makes it any more special than any other ones. It's another Raw, another day where I have to be Dolph Ziggler, Show Off Extraordinaire, and pretend to be the boyfriend of the girl who I really want to be my girlfriend.

"Come on, dude, I know the plane was rough, but let's get inside," I talk to Mikey, and it's actually been pretty calming being able to talk to someone, even if that someone is a dog and can't answer back. Actually, that's probably what I've been looking for all my life, someone to talk to who won't judge or talk back, giving me crappy advice about things.

I let the little guy do his business before I lead him into the arena. It's already abuzz with activity and Mikey looks a little overwhelmed. I decide to just pick him up so the little guy isn't scared. He's probably not used to a lot of people around, and he's definitely not used to all the stuff that goes along with a show, especially a televised one. I find my way to the locker room, pushing open the door and grabbing a locker.

"Dude, a dog?"

I look up and see Zack, "What? I'm a dog person."

"I didn't think you actually adopted that dog," Zack chuckled.

Dolph shrugged, "He liked me, I liked him, isn't that how every great love story starts?"

"I think we both know who you did this for," Zack tells me with this stupid, knowing look on his face. Zack is one of my best friends here, one of my best friends anywhere, and with that comes the knowledge of my brain. He needs to get out of my brain though because it's not up for reading right now.

"I did it because a dog needed a home, and Donny would be proud of me for that, you know how into rescuing dogs he is—"

"He's not the only one who really likes rescuing dogs," Zack interrupts me to give me that look again. Zack has been around for a long time. He saw me date Nikki, he saw me date Amy, he saw me date a string of girls who only ever lasted a few months because the schedule was too rough for them to handle. He's seen it all, and he knows, or at least he knows a little bit, and it's frustrating to have someone read you so readily. It's like you can't have a single secret in their presence.

"Look—"

"Look nothing, why don't you just admit that you adopting a _dog_ to impress her. We've all done things like that, bro," Zack just shrugged. "You think you're the only one to go to extreme lengths to get a girl. Dude, in high school, I would have done anything for some of the girls to look at me."

I laugh because I can picture a geeky Zack doing just that, going out there, trying everything and anything to get a girl to notice him, but failing every time. Let's face it, Zack doesn't have the greatest luck. "She may have suggested it, but it wasn't _because_ of her that I was where I was, I just happened on the event and I wanted to get the word out there. It had nothing to do with her and her causes, it's just a good cause, period."

"Then let me guess what happens next?" Zack asks like he's actually looking for permission when I know he's going to say it anyways. I wave my hand as if telling him to continue, so he does, "She tells you or contacts you saying how cute the dog is, you, wanting in her pants like you do—"

"No, come on, man," I shake my head. He can be crass, he can be, but there's something so wrong hearing about her in those terms. It's not like I haven't heard the words about her before, the announcing team seems to love to joke about how big a slut she is, but she's not, and I hope to God those words don't affect her. I know, from being around her so much, from traveling with her, from having long, deep conversations with her, that she isn't like that, that she's actually slightly prudish, but not in the bad way, in the cute way that makes her blush when you tell her she looks pretty in something.

"Sorry, with you wanting to be with her as you do, you gave in because you thought this would give you an in, tell me I'm lying," he dares me. I just cast my eyes down because I can't do anything else. He's right, he's got most of it down pat. I gave in because I love her, and I kind of will do anything for her to notice me.

And I know the irony in that. Right now, her character, I'm the only guy she notices, and she's the only girl I notice. The thing is, that's not just character for me. It's not like other women cease to exist. I'm surrounded by gorgeous women, beautiful, hot chicks send me pictures of themselves in my merch all the time, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that sometimes I've thought about DM'ing some of them to get their numbers. That's the shallow part of me that's talking, the part that thinks if I just get my mind off her that she won't be as prominent.

She just exists the most.

She takes up the most space, she takes up all of my vision, and other women stand on the periphery, waving their arms trying to get noticed, but then there's AJ, in all her sweet, geeky glory, and she blots them out. Everything about her is so diametrically opposed to what people _think_ I want, but all I've ever really wanted in a woman is someone smart who can keep up with me banter-wise (not bedroom-wise, thank you very much, Amy). Lots of people ask me about my type, as if every person has one single type of person they want to be with, but that's bunk.

There's no type, there's not some prototype woman that I built in my basement that I measure all other women against. There's just not. There's nothing of the sort, and to think that I'm automatically going to go for someone curvaceous and vapid is ridiculous. I love the weird things about AJ. I love how she adores comic books and pretty much only wears Chucks. I love that she can put on a really girly dress and still somehow look like a tomboy. I love that she laughs too loud at stupid comedies and how she can quote old comedies with me. She can keep up. Her looks are a bonus, and no, I don't have a type with looks either.

I've seen people try to tell other people that I could not possibly be into AJ because she doesn't look like the type of girl I would be with, and again, who are these people and why do they think they know my own brain? I've never really cared that much about a woman's looks. Sure, they're an added bonus, and it's always going to be the first thing you notice. Nobody can wear what they have in the inside on the outside, so you have to look at the goods.

I like AJ's goods.

No, she's not curvy, and she'll be the first to tell you her proportions are lackluster, but I don't care. I like the way she looks, I think she's beautiful, I think she's more than beautiful, whatever that is. She's just AJ, and every bit of her I'm finding is pretty damn perfect. I sound like a lovesick fool and I kind of hate my own brain right now, but hey, you can't control everything.

"Knew it," Zack reaches out to scratch Mikey's head. "What's his name again?"

"Mikey."

"Mikey, would you just make sure you bring the cute so your dad can get with this chick?" Zack tells the dog. "I'm tired of seeing him around here moping because he's buttcrazy about her, you hear me, bro."

"He hears you," I say, putting my stuff down and grabbing Mikey again. "We're going to go see her, she wanted Mikes and Nacho to meet."

"Step-siblings," Zack jokes and I flip him off before I leave the locker room amidst the stares from some of the other guys. Yeah, I have a dog with me, get over it, Punk brings Lita's dog all the time, some of the divas bring their dogs, so I have a dog, I'm giving him a great life. I scratch Mikey behind the ear and wander towards the women's locker room. I politely knock on the door and wait for someone to answer.

"Hey," Alicia answers, "what's up?"

"Is AJ here?"

"Yeah, hold on," Alicia turns around, the door still mostly closed, I can only imagine some of them are getting dressed or undressed. My mind barely even wanders when that thought enters my brain because I can only think of AJ. "AJ, your boyfriend's here to see you!"

I almost choke on the gum I'm surprised by her statement. It was obviously meant as a joke because of our storyline, but still…just, wasn't expecting to hear it said like that. "Hey!" AJ opens the door and slips out, Nacho under her arm. "Oh my God, is that him! Hello, baby!"

Mikey's tail wags vigorously (I don't blame him really, one look at AJ and you're pretty much gone), and she reaches out to pet him. "Mikey, this is AJ. AJ, this is Mikey."

"You are too cute for words, you are cute enough to eat, but not really because I don't endorse that," AJ pets him. "Let's take the out back, I saw a little knoll where we can take them." She grabs my hand with her free one and leads me outside. I can only focus on how her hand feels in mine. We don't get to hold hands a lot while we're in character, and it actually feels pretty good, natural. I like it, I like it too much.

She finds the little knoll and sits down unceremoniously on the grass. She pats the spot next to her and I sit myself down too, letting Mikey onto the grass. He immediately notices Nacho and sees him as friendly. He probably had a lot of friends in the shelter and so he goes to Nacho, who looks at him like he's a predator. "Nacho Cheese, this is Mikey, Mikey, this is Nacho Cheese, well, Senor Nacho Cheese, but you can bark him Nacho."

Nacho was only suspicious for a moment before they started to lay down next to each other because both decided they were lazy today. AJ would periodically pet both dogs as I sit watching her. "He likes you, but no surprise there," I tell her, she smiles at me innocently. "I think everyone likes you once they meet you."

"He's a good dog," AJ tells me, letting the compliment drop there from the air between us. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

"Yeah, he is, I'm glad I got him, glad you talked me into it."

"You did a great thing rescuing him, now he gets to be spoiled and he has a friend and Nacho has a road friend, and it all works out," AJ says, but it's not. It doesn't solve my little problem of being in love with her. Mikey stands up and goes over to AJ, curling up to her, resting his head on her leg as he gives her the doe eyes. "I think I'm in love!"

If only it were that easy for me.

"He really, really likes you," I comment idly.

"Like father, like son, huh?"

It takes me by surprise at first, completely by surprise. Did she just imply what I think she implied. Did she just actually kind of, sort of call me out? I sputter out a response. "Um, excuse me, what do you…I mean, what do you mean?"

She laughs a little bit before she turns her body more towards me. "Dolph, I've spent the last few months attached at the hip with you, if you think that I can't read you just a little bit…the phone call, I mean, yeah, the phone call…"

"Oh," I say because I don't know what else to say.

I've been caught.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read and/or reviewed this short, little fic. This is the final chapter, hope you enjoy, and be on the lookout for all my other Dolph/AJ stories! :)

* * *

I don't panic.

I'm not a coward, well, no, no, I'm not a coward. There's never been anything in my life that I've backed down from unless it was dangerous, sometimes you have to back down from dangerous. This isn't dangerous, and don't give me the whole, love is always dangerous spiel because it shouldn't be. Yes, putting your heart out there is always a risk, but it's not dangerous. It's not like you're going to physically get stabbed by love. It hurts when it's over, but you get over that.

So I just kind of stare at her, thinking of something appropriate to say, hoping that something will come to me soon because she's just kind of staring at me with this smile on her face. It's very knowing, like she's been suspect to my feelings for a while. I feel exposed, and not the good kind, not the kind that takes place behind closed doors with the camera on and all my mirrors just right.

"Are you going to say anything?" AJ gives me that grin, the same one she gave me the night of TLC. It's not fake though, not acting, it's this genuinely huge smile because she knows she caught me, she knows she has the upper-hand, and she's loving it. I'm loving her for loving it, that's how far gone I am for her. "You're not going to deny it?"

"I can't deny it," I shrug, finally finding my voice.

"I didn't think you would, you never struck me as the type to back away from the truth and over your feelings."

If only she knew me back in high school. Going to an all-boys school, you're not interacting with girls on a daily basis, and I wasn't suave or cool. I was the guy who stayed late training in the weight room to make sure I was in top physical condition for my next wrestling meet because I knew every win brought me closer to the WWE. I was not the guy who went out every weekend with a new girlfriend. Whenever AJ talks about how not a single guy noticed her in high school, I know the feeling.

I also know if I saw her in high school, I might like her. Yes, it's cliché to think that, to believe in silly things like fate and kismet, but she's cool. I mean, maybe she wasn't much to look at then (but she's beautiful now so she couldn't have been totally ugly, whatevs), but her personality couldn't do a 180 in the span of like eight years. She'd still be who she is, and I'd still be who I am, and maybe we would have liked each other then.

But damn it, I like her now.

"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't," I shrug again and I kind of want to push my shoulders down. They're not helping right now. I look down at our dogs, praying they'll do something that will take away from his awkwardness, but they're still lying on the grass. As I'm watching them though, I notice AJ's hand creeping towards mine. I stare at it because I'm stupefied by it. I stare and stare as it creeps closer to my hand, until it's actually on top of my hand, and it stops, right there.

She gives me a little squeeze and I finally look up at her. There's that dumb grin again, "Since when are you so afraid to talk to me?"

"Since you became the most important thing in my life," I answer, and I'm actually proud of myself, that was pretty damn smooth! Let's put that one in the books. Score one point for me!

She has the decency to blush, and I'm doubly proud of myself. Maybe I'm not so bad at this after all. I mean, the other night, I could have slept with that chick at the comedy club. She was more than willing to come home with me, and it would have been easy. I could have shown her a good time (because let's face it, I'm good, and some chicks *cough*Amy*cough* just couldn't handle that), and I don't know, taken her out to breakfast the next morning (I'm a good guy). I do have some game, just not all the time, not with girls I really like, not with girls I love.

"When did that happen?" she asks me, pursing her lips together, trying to keep that smug grin off her face. I know her now, I know when that is going to make an appearance. She would be smug right now, with me here confessing how I feel while she hasn't said anything. I mean, yeah, her hand is on my hand, but that could be a friendship thing, and, God, when did I become a woman who has to analyze every little thing the person they love does? Get a grip, Ziggler.

"Slowly, until it hit me," I venture a guess because I'm not sure when it started or when it escalated. I just knew that one day it was there, plain in front of my face. "I guess…you've known."

"Well, I had some…idea," she tells me, ducking her head a little bit, "Mikey kind of sealed the deal for me, but the phone was really what nailed it. I mean, you adopted a dog because I told you to—"

"I might have adopted him either way," I try and save some face because damn, I knew the dog thing was pretty transparent. "You don't know that I wouldn't have."

"But I told you to and you did," she points out again, and I frown a little and she giggles. "It's sweet though, Dolph, it's sweet, and you made his life better. He has a home now, he has a family now, he has a best friend and everything. He has so much because you gave him that."

"Well, when you put it like that," I try to humble it away, act bashful, but with the way she's looking at me right now, it's hard to do anything but stare at her big, doe-like eyes. How did I not notice them years ago? How could I have walked past her for years without noticing her? How did I not see it?

"You did a good thing, no matter what the original intentions were," AJ tells me, and she's still giving me those eyes. I hope they're not pity, I do not do pity well. I'm not a guy who wants anyone's pity, especially not hers. Maybe I should just prepare myself for rejection now.

"I could have slept with someone a couple nights ago."

What in the hell, Dolph?

I have never wanted to crawl into a hole before, but if there was ever a time to start wanting to crawl into a hole, I think I just found it. I can't believe I told her that, I can't believe my brain didn't realize how stupid it was to say that. I'm glad none of the fans can see me right now because the Show-Off moniker would sound pretty lame right now. I'm anything but showing off, unless it's showing off how big a lower I am.

"I'm sorry, that was really weird of me to say—"

"Could have?" she asks simply, and she's still smiling, and maybe I haven't ruined things with her before they could ever get started. Salvage this, Dolph Ziggler, salvage this somehow!

"I didn't."

"I gathered that from the could have," she tells me, and she waits patiently to hear the rest of the story because clearly there's a story attached if I tell her that I almost slept with some random girl the other night. I can't believe I really said that to her.

"I went to a comedy club to check out a show, and there was this girl there…there were no seats, so she sat with me, you know, convenience, whatevs, but yeah, I guess I was flirting without realizing it…okay, that's a lie. I thought I saw you there."

"Saw me there? Oh my God, are you hallucinating me?" she asks, and she looks with such genuine concern that I laugh a little and shake my head, which eases her worry.

"I mean I saw a girl with your build, and I thought you might have surprised me," I explain, "and when the girl turned around and it wasn't you, I admit, I was a little bit sad. I didn't want to admit that, so when this girl, I don't even remember her name, came up to me, I let her sit, and I flirted with her, but my heart wasn't in it."

"Okay," she nods, acknowledging that she's listening to me.

"I just didn't want to be there, I didn't want to be with that girl, so I told her I was taken, and I went home to Mikey, and I called you," I confess to her. "I just wanted to get home so I could talk to you."

"I see," she looks at something (or nothing) past my shoulder and finally takes her hand off mine. Well, that does it, I've blown it, nice going, brain, couldn't keep that from coming out of your mouth, could you?

"I liked that you called me," AJ scrunches up her nose at me. "I know it's silly, but I just like when you call me or text me when we're not working because it proves that you're thinking of me because…because well, I think about you a lot."

Okay, this could be turning around in my favor, but don't rush it. Don't scare her off! "You do?"

"All the time," she laughs, "every day we're not together, I'm wondering what you're doing, if there's some girl in your life, if it would work if I could just say it's my gimmick if I want to tear out the hair of any woman I picture you with, like this girl you could have slept with, I want to slam her face into the mat and you don't even remember her name."

This is definitely getting better and better by the second, "I understand the feeling. I think I may have experienced it once or twice."

"With the…zero guys I really interact with?" she wonders gesturing around her to the nobody that's there.

"With the thousands and thousands of guys who are obsessed with you, and would do anything to have even the slightest chance with you," I tell her, and she has the nerve to start laughing at me.

"Dolph, are you kidding me?" she's still laughing, "You have to know that those guys are next to nothing to me, but you on the other hand, you are something more, and you have been, and you are, and I called you out because I needed to get it out myself."

"Get what out?" I'm not dumb, I think I know, but I'm not going to start jumping up and down for joy or something, even if my heart wants to jump out of my chest.

"Things are not one-sided," she says shyly. She looks up at me, and she's already wearing her false eyelashes so her eyes are even prettier. "I just wanted to say that, I just had to know you felt the same way because God, what if I said it, and you didn't like me, and things would be super awkward between us. I mean, there we'd be, and you'd be standing there looking at this girl who likes you, who you have to kiss, and it'd be really weird, and now I'm rambling…"

I lean over and kiss her because it's the right thing to do. She won't stop talking, and I don't want to talk because I'll start rambling so kissing is the best way to go. It's not like the kisses we share or have shared in the ring. I'm not trying to eat her face, and it's not a chaste, little peck on the lips. She scoots closer somehow, I guess trusting that Nacho and Mikey won't run away and she deepens the kiss. Before I can reach out and pull her closer, she pulls away first.

"Anyone could see us," she looks around furtively.

"Yeah, but it's just a storyline, right, we're selling," I lean in for another kiss. She lets me for a moment before she pulls away again.

"So this thing between us is now…"

"Official?" I suggest.

"Okay," she says, "Do you think Mikey and Nacho will approve?"

I look over at them, where they don't even care what's going on. I nod, "I think so, they seem pretty happy together."

"They're not the only ones."


End file.
